My Monday newsletter is back as we head into the fall! Today I am looking at my most anticipated fall shows, reviewing summer TV and sharing some thoughts on the newest season of Only Murders in the Building!
This fall feels a lot more like a normal fall after last year's strike-affected fall season. And after a rough summer of new TV (see more on that below), there are some really interesting shows coming over the next couple months! Here's a look at my Top 10 most anticipated new shows of the fall season!
10. The Perfect Couple (Netflix, September 5)
I'm a little leery of this one because I've grown tired of watching Nicole Kidman play wealthy white women with major first world problems. But I'm intrigued by the rest of the cast, which includes Liev Schreiber, Dakota Fanning and Meghann Fahy, the latter whom I absolutely loved on the second season of The White Lotus. It looks very soapy but also looks interesting enough for me to give it a try and hope it is one of the better versions of that type of show.
9. Agatha All Along (Disney+, September 18)
Unlike some other shows on this list, my interest is this show dropped after seeing the trailer. I loved Kathryn Hahn on WandaVision so even though I'm not much of a Marvel guy, I was very intrigued by this show. But I thought the trailer looked pretty bad. The production values look like cheap CGI and Hahn seems to be missing all the pizazz she had on WandaVision. Still, this show has Aubrey Plaza, Patti LuPone, Debra Jo Rupp and others in the supporting cast. I'm still definitely giving it a try but I'm much more apprehensive.
8. Nobody Wants This (Netflix, September 26)
This show was on my radar but I became a little more interested after seeing the trailer. Kristen Bell and Adam Brody are both very likable actors and the premise, about an agnostic woman who falls for a rabbi, has potential. It seems very much like a rom-com movie of the 90s but that's not a bad thing. It's nice to see the rom-com genre getting two leads in their 40s and there doesn't seem to be some unnecessary hook or deep dark secret here. I think it could be a very pleasant watch.
I really enjoy Kathy Bates so even though this show is way outside my demographic, I think it'll be a really solid legal show. Elsbeth revived my hope that network procedurals can still have some fun and this seems like a really good pair with Elsbeth on Thursday nights. I loved Bates in the otherwise troubled Harry's Law and she will certainly be a force here. Kathy Bates in a legal drama procedural on CBS just goes down easy. It may not be as ambitious as some of the other shows on this list, but it certainly could be some nice comfort food TV.
6. How to Die Alone (Hulu, September 13)
This was a show that was not on my radar at all until I saw the trailer. Now it's definitely a show I'm curious about. I loved Natasha Rothwell on The White Lotus and this seems to be a show with distinct voice and vision (coming from Rothwell). The story, about a JFK employee who tries to turn her life around after a near-death experience, has a promising plot to be able to explore relationships and I thought the trailer had a lot of fun and sweet moments. It could be a surprise this fall.
NBC's new medical comedy has already released its first four minutes and there's enough to like in it to keep me interested even though it didn't blow me away. I always grade comedies on a curve for their first couple episodes because they need time to gel but there's enough good people in this show, led by Wendi McLendon-Covey and Allison Tolman, that I think they have the goods especially coupled with Justin Spitzer whose writing I enjoyed on both Superstore and the underrated American Auto. He knows how to do a workplace network sitcom so I'm optimistic.
4. The Penguin (HBO, September 19)
I really am not sure what to make of this one. I haven't watched any recent Batman movies but his world is really the only superhero world I'm interested in and I have been since Batman Returns hit theaters in 1992. I like Colin Farrell but didn't see him in The Batman. I like the noir feel to Batman shows but this one seems a bit like it's taking itself too seriously. The trailer was so broody and it looks pretty violent whereas I prefer my Batman with a little tongue-in-cheek humor. I don't know if I'm going to love this one, but this is a most anticipated list and I'm definitely curious about it.
3. Disclaimer (Apple TV+, October 11)
Written and Directed by film auteur Alfonso Cuaron, this show has a really impressive cast led by Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen and Lesley Manville. The logline was pretty vague as well but it sounds intriguing and it certainly has spiked my interest. The reviews coming out of its festival premiere are generally positive but I haven't read them because I don't want to know too much. It feels like TV is moving away from these high profile limited series with major movie stars so it feels less routine than it did a couple years ago.
No trailer or official premiere date for this one but it's Mike Schur and Ted Danson working together again and stars Danson as a retired man who becomes an undercover agent at a nursing home. I love most things Schur does and most things Danson does and of course they worked together on The Good Place, which had a brilliant performance from Danson. I think this will be a winning comedy. Being the first for Netflix for Schur, I just hope he keeps it as tight as his network sitcoms and doesn't let it get too bloated like too many Netflix comedies.
1. English Teacher (FX, September 2)
I've been very excited for this show since seeing the trailer a few weeks ago. I think it has a strong chance of being my top show this fall. FX is always careful about curating their comedies. With a background in education, I'm often critical of school-set shows (Abbott Elementary is the exception). But I really trust FX and their eye for quality shows so I think and hope this is going to be a favorite of mine. The trailer struck the exact right tone. I hope the series matches that. We'll know soon enough because it premieres tonight!
RETURNING SHOWS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO: Abbott Elementary (ABC, October 9), Ghosts (CBS, October 17), Elsbeth (CBS, October 17), What We Do in the Shadows (FX, October 21), Somebody Somewhere (HBO, October 27), The Diplomat (Netflix, October 31), Silo (Apple TV+, November 15)
Only Murders in the Building returned for its fourth season last week. The favorite streaming show of baby boomers has been on a steady decline for me since its very strong first season. I thought the second season was a mixed bag and I thought the third season was pretty dull. I still decided to watch the fourth season because I think there's still enough good elements to rebound from a bad season. After the first episode of the fourth season, I'm still torn on the show.
Only Murders has become a big hit for Hulu and its falling prey to the problem that can affect any buzzy show including better ones like Hacks and Abbott Elementary: they overdo it with the celebrity guest appearances. The premiere alone featured Scott Bakula, Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, Zach Galifinakis, Molly Shannon and the return of Meryl Streep. That many stars, often used in superfluous ways, brings me right out of the story of the show. And while we're on the subject of the story, the show right now seems to be trying to service two masters: the murder mystery and the glamorous Hollywood plot. Maybe those two plots will intersect but right now it feels like they are both diluting each other a bit.
But, like always, the chemistry between the three leads remains impeccable. It's always fun to watch them together. And while I thought Paul Rudd was one of the few bright spots of last season, I am slightly more intrigued in this season's murder. I'll keep watching but I'm not sure this show is ever going to be as strong as I want it to be
As you can see from above, I am excited for the Fall TV season and one of those reasons is it was a pretty dismal summer for scripted TV. Back in the day, summer used to be a vast wasteland of reruns and reality shows. But in recent years, there have been some really strong summer shows. Some favorites of mine like The White Lotus and Ted Lasso launched in the summer. The last two years, the buzzy first two seasons of The Bear dominated the early summer conversation.
This year, the enjoyable scripted shows were very few and far-between for me. I was not as down on the third season of The Bear as others have been, but there's no denying it was the weakest season of the three so far with a season that treaded water way too often even with some highlights like the "Napkins" showcase for Liza Colon-Zayas. The two other shows that seemed to be most in the "water-cooler" conversation were House of the Dragon and Presumed Innocent. I don't watch Dragon and I felt like Presumed Innocent was a real mixed bag. There was a truly fantastic performance from Peter Sarsgaard, but the rest of the show was frustrating more often than it was inspired.
Everything else I watched was firmly in the "meh" category. Clipped had some strong elements but didn't quite pull it all together though it was probably my second favorite show I completed besides The Bear. Land of Women was charming at times but I ultimately lost interest. The second season of Criminal Minds: Evolution was a big step down from its surprisingly strong first season. That 90s Show is fun at times but it's still a shell of its parent series. I tried, but didn't stick with, Lady in the Lake, The Decameron and Time Bandits. I watched the previous seasons of Emily in Paris but finally decided to drop that from my list after the first episode of the fourth season. I know some critics thought Evil was the best thing on TV but I gave that show up long ago.
Truthfully, the only show that has really spiked my interest since The Bear is Bad Monkey. The Florida-set murder mystery comedy is coasting mostly on vibes and fun performances but it's been a really enjoyable summer show. I'm not convinced the murder mystery at the center is strong enough to sustain another six episodes. This is a show that I actually wish was more procedural with maybe an overarching mystery. Vince Vaughn is so fun to watch an he has great chemistry with Natalie Martinez. I wouldn't mind seeing them solve a few crimes along the way of figuring out the big case, which inevitably seems like it's going to run out of steam. But still, it's certainly been an enjoyable show in a summer where the most interesting thing on TV has been US politics. Thank goodness the fall is here with many more potentially interesting shows, as seen above.
SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
The first week of September isn't the busiest week of the month but it does start gearing up with a few high profile premieres. That starts tonight with English Teacher on FX which, as seen above, is my most anticipated fall show. On Wednesday, Apple TV+ has the fourth season premiere of Slow Horses, which finally broke into the Emmy race this year. I've never been able to get into the show but I know many love it. Wednesday also has the second season premiere of Hulu's soapy Tell Me Lies, last seen back in October 2022. Thursday has another soapy offering in Netflix's The Perfect Couple, which I discussed above. Thursday also has Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist on Peacock. Set on the night of Muhammad Ali's return to boxing in 1970, the show boasts a strong cast (Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle, etc.) but it hasn't seemed to get a lot of interest so far. I'm sure NBC will promote it during the NFL kickoff game on Thursday night. The week rounds out with the first broadcast premiere of the season in FOX's animated Universal Basic Guys, which is getting a premiere after the first NFL Sunday.
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